Host agency Avoya Travel plans to launch a luxury division, and while the timing on the project is fluid, it will likely get off the ground next year.
Kameish Stanley
"We're looking at all our preferred partnerships," said Kameish Stanley, Avoya's vice president of strategic growth. She added that Julie Howard, Avoya's vice president of partnerships, is "digging in with her team."
Stanley said the introduction of a luxury division is a big undertaking for Fort Lauderdale-based Avoya (No. 37 on Travel Weekly's Power List). It comes at a time when she's focused on adding revenue streams.
"We've gone through a lot of changes here in the last few years, so it's really just capitalizing on that momentum and pushing the company forward," Stanley said.
Both Stanley and Howard joined Avoya earlier this year, coming from Oasis Travel and Signature Travel Network, respectively. Stanley was Oasis' chief commercial officer, and Howard led Signature's cruise partnerships.
Their appointments to the leadership team are part of Avoya's changes this decade.
Avoya received an investment from private equity firm Certares in 2021. Four years later, Certares bought the agency from its longtime owners, the Anderson family. Co-CEOs Jeff and Michael Anderson departed Avoya, marking the first time the company didn't have an Anderson at the helm in its 62-year history.
Last summer, Marc Kazlauskas took over as CEO but departed in mid-January to become president of Norwegian Cruise Line. Phil Cappelli was promoted from chief sales officer to CEO.
Stanley and Howard came aboard a few months later. Together, the two are charting a future for the host agency that includes an increased emphasis on preferred-partner relationships. The luxury division will be a big part of that.
Right now, Stanley said, Avoya is working on identifying advisors and supplier partners that would be a good fit for the division as well as where resources will need to be allocated. The host is also leaning into its affiliation with Travel Leaders Network.
"Everyone is excited," Stanley said. "Everyone is in growth mode. Everyone is super aligned with where we want to take Avoya. We want to get to $1 billion dollars [in annual sales]."
Julie Howard
Howard is working on building up Avoya's portfolio of land and resort suppliers. The agency has historically been very cruise-focused, with an increased emphasis on land vacations in recent years. Avoya wants its advisors to offer customers an array of products.
"We want to do more advisor training on how to source guests and how to cross-sell," Howard said. She said Avoya is working with partners with the ultimate goal of growing business, not just shifting it. That comes with a mix of advisor training, marketing and optimal use of the host agency's technology.
Partnerships with preferred suppliers are central to many of Avoya's plans. Howard said the agency wants to partner with communicative, transparent suppliers who support the trade.
"We try to do the best job that we possibly can at vetting partners and making sure that they're supportive of our advisors, and then we like to push the business to those preferred partners that are supporting us," she said.
The relationship between hosts and suppliers has evolved as the hosted model has come into prominence in the last 15 to 20 years, Stanley said.
Initially, they were simple partnerships with suppliers.
"It morphed into something of a more targeted approach, where you build the relationships, you have the support and there's a commitment on both sides," Stanley said. "I think having that and valuing that is a service to not only the advisors but the partners, as well."